


Talk To Me Hartley

by TheFlashpoint



Series: Hartley and the Betrayal of Francisco [1]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alex is a kickass doctor and she WILL get through to Hart, Blind!Hartley, Fluff and Angst, Fluffy Ending, Light Angst, Light-Hearted, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-05
Updated: 2018-09-05
Packaged: 2019-07-07 06:26:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15902709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFlashpoint/pseuds/TheFlashpoint
Summary: Hartley has a case of giving up and Alex wants to fix it.





	Talk To Me Hartley

**Author's Note:**

> Quick Note! This is a special au I've made that soon will end up having its own entire fleshed out fic.  
> For now we're having small ficlets about Hartley and his life as a blind man with his new abilities. 
> 
> The au's universe is a combination of the arrowverse shows on one planet. At least, Arrow, Supergirl, Flash and ofc Legends.  
> They all live in Star City. Some characters who didn't have powers originally now do, and some characters aren't as important as they are in their respective shows. Some of them go by different names. Francis is Cisco (Obviously) and Henry is a version of Harrison Wells that I myself have created for this specific au.
> 
> Now that thats out of the way, enjoy!

Doctor Alex Danvers had been working at Star City’s best hospital for years. She was a proud doctor, being given some of the harder patients to work with, and everyone quite enjoyed her company. There was however one patient in particular who she still hadn’t made a breakthrough with.   
  
His name was Hartley Rathaway and he was a stubborn one. Well, not exactly stubborn, he just gave up. From what information Alex was given after the other doctors had tried anything and everything on him, she found out he was from S.T.A.R Labs and ended up permanently losing his eyesight as well as gaining severe damage to both his legs. His hearing wasn’t great either, the man himself occasionally complaining about a high pitched ringing. Hartley originally talked to anyone coming into his room. They said he happily greeted them and excitedly held a small conversation when he could, but as of recent once he found out his eyes were never going to get better, he closed himself off and completely shut himself down.    
  
People giving up like this was a common occurrence in such situations, Alex just never came across one who gave up so suddenly without any clear warnings of it. Luckily she’d managed to get him to start eating again, even getting a small laugh here and there due to her jokes, but other than that Hartley refused to talk. The one time Alex ever did hear Hartley say a word was when Caitlin Snow came in for a visit. They chatted about their previous work, how S.T.A.R Labs was destroyed and if it could ever be salvaged, and who else ended up surviving the traumatic event. Hartley looked upset when Caitlin brought up the lead scientist Harrison ‘Henry’ Wells. Alex was curious if it had to do with the fact that he was the owner of the lab. Maybe Hartley blamed him for his blindness? She happened to catch them talking about someone else as well but with the look on Hartley’s face, she didn’t feel it was right to bring it up with him unless he himself wanted to open up to her about it.   
  
Alex made it her mission to cheer this man up one way or another, so she always started the day with a bright greeting for him. “Morning Rathaway!” the doctor chimed, “Todays another day to keep on going right? What do you feel like doing today?” Silence. “Right well I think going outside sounds pretty exciting. Be nice for you to get some good ol’ sunlight since you’ve been stuck in here for so long.” a hum in response, at least it was something right?   
  
“Hungry for anything in particular today? Big Belly Burger? Something from the hospital itself?” Alex pressed on. Once again she got a cold silence. “Well you’ve left it up to me then. I’ll have my sister pick us up some food while we’re out, for now I need you to let me help you into this wheelchair so I can actually take you outside.”   
  
There wasn’t really any sort of struggle. Hartley’s legs were stiff and hard for him to move at first, but they managed best they could and he seemed a lot more comfortable sitting once they succeeded in getting him into the chair. The trip to the garden wasn’t a very long one but it was calm. Alex chatting away as Hartley ate what he could while the two of them took in the sunlight to the best of their abilities before the overcast blocked it out. Alex went about this routine with him weekly, making sure he was comfortable enough to really go out each Thursday and having her sister pick up food while the two of them waited. It was probably one of her preferred parts of the day and Hartley always seemed a tad more open even if he didn’t talk thanks to these little garden adventures. He couldn’t see any of it, but Alex could tell it really did help him out.   
  
On one particular day, Alex caught a man walking away from Hartley’s room. He nodded to her, and she hesitantly nodded back. He looked to be about Hartley’s age, long hair tied back slightly and hands neatly tucked away in his pockets. She shrugged it off, supposing he could of just been another colleague of Hartley’s from work, and went about the usual routine.    
  
“Good morning Rathaway!” Alex chirped as per usual, “It’s Thursday, you know what that-”   
  
“You saw him leave my room right?” Alex paused. He was talking to her? “I would assume you did since he just left. Please don’t let him back here. I’m fine with Caitlin, maybe Ronnie on occasion if he ever does come around, but I can’t have uh...Francisco...coming around here anymore.” Hartley’s first time really talking to his doctor and it sounded like a plea for help. Whoever this Francisco was he obviously caused Hartley some distress and Alex wasn’t going to put up with that after she just started to make a breakthrough with him.   
  
“Sure thing. I’ll tell anyone else who comes around this section as well as those in the visitor’s area that he’s not allowed into your room.” she replied. “Anything else you’d like to tell me mister Rathaway?”   
  
“Yes, its Hartley.” he stated, “I don’t like Rathaway. Don’t like using the last name of my parents. Hartley, or Hart even, would do just fine.”   
  
“Oh...well I’ll be sure to keep that in mind Hartley.” Alex could mark this day down as a success. He was talking, and not even to himself or a friend, Hartley was talking to her! “Now about going out today...you still up for it?”   
  
“Not quite. Maybe we could stay in for today? I’d uhm...well I think I’d like to talk a bit more to you without the overwhelming sound of the outside world.” Hartley softly chuckled, “One downside about the garden is that I can hear  _ everything  _ that’s going on.”   
  
“Inside day it is then. I can still have my sister bring us some food if you’re up to it? Unless you want hospital food. Honestly I shouldn’t even be feeding you food outside the hospital but I decided you needed a treat after what you’ve been through.”   
  
“Thank you doctor but I think just sitting and chatting is just fine.” Alex nodded, pulling up a seat beside Hartley’s bed and promptly sitting down. “I suppose it would be best if I explained the Francisco situation to you?” he inquired, nervously fiddling with the hem of his blanket.   
  
“Considering how obviously uncomfortable you look about it, perhaps another time alright?” Hartley looked grateful about her response, clearly not ready to open that can of worms just yet. “I’ve always been curious, you worked at S.T.A.R Labs right? Was there ever anything you really enjoyed about the job? I always thought about what it was like to work in a place like that and everyone seemed to really love it before the place blew up.”   
  
Hartley laughed, “Anything I ever liked? Doctor you insult me, I loved  _ everything _ about that job! The people were nice there, loved getting the chance to work with new tech, and I can’t even begin to explain how great Henry and Tess were. They were like new parents to me.” hearing Hartley talk about the lab with such enthusiasm was fairly refreshing from the usual silence he gave Alex. She never really saw him so happy before now. “It was actually uhm….well it was Francisco who got me a job there. See he was pretty close to Henry and Tess as it was, Tess met him in Jitters while he was working on something and offered him a job, so it wasn’t hard to convince them to try and give me a chance.”   
  
“Sounds to me like you really cared about these people. It’s rare to ever get a chance to work in a big science facility like that.” Alex chimed in, “Was it fun?”   
  
“It was lots of fun. During lunch breaks Henry and I would always have a game of chess. I usually beat him but could never beat Tess when she played. Henry would always get frustrated when he lost and she’d laugh…” his smile faltered, expression slowly turning to one of deep sorrow. “I assume Henry and Tess didn’t make it…”   
  
“Unfortunately we haven’t really heard much of them.” Alex slowly placed a hand on Hartley’s shoulder in attempts to reassure him, “How about we don’t talk about the bitter things and remember the great things that happened there okay? Seeing you so down all the time is starting to rub off on me.”   
  
“Right, sorry about that.” Hartley countered, “Hey Alex? Thank you. I’m sorry for being so stubborn. It’s just...losing my eyesight and finding out I might not even be able to walk right anymore took a big toll on me and I was seriously ready to give up on everything. Hell, I did give up on everything until you came around. It means a lot to me that you didn’t give up on me like the other doctors did.”   
  
“It's my job to help those in need Hartley.” Alex stood, pushing the chair away and adjusting the blankets for him, “But between you and me? I really enjoy spending time with you, it's nice. I hope us chatting will become a normal thing in our Thursdays?”   
  
“Of course it will. No use in holding anything back now. Now about that food offer from earlier…”   
  
“I'll be right one it.” She laughed, walking to the door and taking one last glance at the other. “See you in a bit Hartley, don’t go falling asleep on me okay?”   
  
He hummed, leaning back a bit more into the bed and closing his eyes. He was, as Alex had suspected, asleep when she got back with the food. Rather than bothering him to eat, she let Hartley rest and basked in the fact that she finally got him to open up. Hartley was slowly but surely getting better. 


End file.
